The program focuses on Giuseppe Torelli who, although born in Verona, is fully counted among the composers and violinists who made the Bolognese school famous and flourishing between the second half of the 1600s and the beginning of the 1700s. The Ensemble Locatelli, with soloists Roberto Noferini and Jérémie Chigioni under the direction of Chiara Cattani, has dedicated a double CD to him, released by the record label Tactus in 2023, featuring the recording of the 12 Concerti grossi with a Pastorale for the Holy Christmas, op. 8, dated 1709.
The first six Concertos of the collection are proper Concerti grossi, while the second part consists of Concertos for solo violin with orchestra. Torelli excels in both compositional forms; in the Concerti Grossi he stands as a fundamental alter ego to Arcangelo Corelli’s production, while in the Concertos for solo instrument he is a true pioneer, a form that will become one of the most important in violin literature.
Completing the program are two famous concertos that feature the two violins dialoguing as soloists; the one by Vivaldi and the one by Bach, the latter chosen particularly because the German composer created two collections of transcriptions for keyboard instrument between 1713 and 1717, based on original works for orchestra by Vivaldi, Marcello, Telemann, etc. For some concertos, the authorship of the original is unknown, and for one, it has been suggested that it might be a concerto (though not belonging to opus 8) by Torelli.

Playbill

Giuseppe Torelli (1658 – 1709)
Concerto op. 8 no. 12 in D major for violin, strings, and bass
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for strings and basso continuo in G minor RV 157
Giuseppe Torelli (1658 – 1709)
Concerto in A minor for 2 violins, strings, and bass Op. 8 no. 2
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, strings, and bass BWV 1043
Giuseppe Torelli (1658 – 1709)
Concerto op. 8 no. 9 in E minor for violin, strings, and bass Op. 8 no. 9

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Ensemble Locatelli
Roberto Noferini, Jérémie Chigioni solo violins

Chiara Cattani harpsichord and direction